


Following the crumbs back to you

by DragonInTheCloud (Alien_Duck)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Baking, Eventual reveal, F/M, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Marichat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-11-27 06:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18191219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien_Duck/pseuds/DragonInTheCloud
Summary: Chat gets more than he bargained for when he goes to Marinette to beg for cookies one night. So what's a boy to do when he discovers that one of his closest friends likes him?Try to work out how he missed it and get to know her better of course!Relatively slow friends to more. Rated teen to be safe, since I don't know where it'll end up





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thank you to tbehartoo for beta-ing for me and helping me make this a hundred, no, thousand times better, and mermaidyarn for the encouragement <3

Chat Noir landed on the balcony with a quiet thump, ears perked forward as he looked over his classmate. Marinette was wearing her pyjamas and slumped back in her chair with one arm holding a white cardboard box on her lap and the other thrown over her face, which she lifted slightly to look over at him when he let himself down from the railing.

“Hey Chat, what brings you to my balcony this completely random Monday night?”

He snorted at her overly exaggerated surprised tone. “Well I heard you were giving out cookies today, so I’ve come to beg for leftovers.”

“Oh? And where exactly did you hear that you greedy stray?”

He grinned as he walked over to her chair and nudged her so she’d make space for him. He really liked this sassy, almost flirty, person he’d managed to make friends with while wearing his mask, who was happy to let him hang out and snuggle and occasionally feed him. He just wished it would bleed over to when he wasn’t wearing his mask as well. Marinette didn’t give him anywhere near enough hugs.

“Around,” he said innocently as he sat down and slid his arm behind her shoulders, laughing as she grumbled and shifted around to settle back against him more comfortably.

“You follow Adrien on social media, don’t you,” she said flatly as she snuggled in against his neck.

“I follow some of his followers,” he hedged, trying not to smirk. “I may or may not have seen the photo of those chocolate chip cat shaped biscuits you made for him that he shared this morning.”

She sighed and he could tell she was rolling her eyes, even if he couldn’t see them right now, but then she lifted her head up and they were nose to nose and his breath caught for a moment at how close she was and the twinkle in her eyes.

“Well, luckily for you, I do in fact have some here. And if you promise to not laugh at them, I’ll let you help me destroy the evidence of my latest screw up.”

“Oh? You’re trying to tempt a hero of Paris to a life of crime?” At her confused look, he explained solemnly “destroying evidence isn’t exactly heroic you know. I expected better from you.”

She pulled back slightly and blinked wide eyes at him, which made his breath catch all over again, before her face split in a wide smirk and he was suddenly slightly afraid. “I thought you’d go willingly, but if you don’t want these chocolate orange cookies, I can just eat them all myself…”

Chat tried to grab for the box and pouted as she kept it just out of reach.

“Oh no Chat, you’re right. I can’t let you take that first step. Next thing you know, you’ll be scratching up door frames and benches and joining Hawkmoth and-“

He dug his knuckles in to her side and wriggled them, causing her to stop with a screeched laugh and bat at his hand, leaving the box free to be grabbed away from her. He poked at her ribs one last time before letting go, smirking as she glared at him and tried to reach for the box. He wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her still and held the box out until she huffed and slumped against him, practically laying half on top of him now. Which was warm and comfy and they should totally do this more often.

“So why would I laugh at your baking? There were pictures of the other things you made, and none of them were laugh worthy.”

She laughed and snuggled back down against his side as he put the box back in his lap and slid a claw through the tape holding the lid down and flipped the top open, only for her to put her hand on top to shut it again as a blush grew on her cheeks.

“I did some baking over the weekend, and I wanted to take these ones in for my, my friend. But instead I managed to take the box I’d set aside for you. Don’t get any ideas,” she added quickly, meeting his eyes for a second before looking back down at the box. “I just happened to find the cat head cutter and remembered you liked the choc chip last time I made some. Which is just as well really,” she said as she finally pulled her hand away and let him lift the lid again. “Because if I _had_ taken these ones in it would have been a disaster! I mean just look at them, this is a perfect example of why you don’t cook and decorate cookies at three a.m.”

Marinette kept talking as she took a biscuit from the now open box and started to wave it around, seeming to not notice that he wasn’t exactly listening anymore.

Heart shaped cookies, topped with candied orange peel and red and pink icing either outlining the hearts or in elegant AA’s. They were brown with faint orange swirls, the same as she’d brought in for them to taste test the week before, and he’d been begging for more ever since. His hand was shaking as he pulled one out of the box and held it up to get a better look at it. Yeah. That was definitely a heart all right.

He thought back to that morning, and all the other things she’d made. Camera shaped gingersnaps for Alya, chocolatey swirls like records for Nino, Markov shaped shortbread for Max, lavender cookies for Rose, something oaty for Mylene… everything had been individualised and made with thought and care. And she’d made hearts for Adrien in the flavour he liked.

She was still talking as his brain tried to process this new information, and slowly fitted itself in with everything else he had kind of, sort of, tried _not_ to notice over the years: the stuttering when they first met, the posters in her room, the blushing, the stumbling and clumsiness that used to show up more when she knew he was there, the times Alya and Nino bailed on them, or deliberately set them up together both wearing knowing smiles.

Huh.

He tried to tune back in to what she was saying, but then she was pressing the cookie she was holding against his lips and he automatically bit in to it. It snapped in half and she looked at it, then popped the rest in her own mouth.

“So, what do you think? Good huh? Wait, you’re not allergic to anything, right? You’ve gone really red,” she mumbled around the biscuit.

He stared at her, eyes scanning her face for any tell that she was lying, teasing him somehow, but he saw only truth and concern and crumbs and icing stuck to her lips, and then he got caught on the tongue that had poked out to clean them.

“Chat?”

His eyes snapped up to meet hers, which were really close again and getting closer and she was looking concerned and he swallowed so his mouth could start talking with little input from his brain.

“Yeah, yeah they’re really good. All chocolatey and orangey and, and, and good. Why are we getting rid of them again? Don’t you think whoever they were for would want them?”

She blushed again and snapped her mouth shut, leaning back and looking down, seeing the biscuit he was holding. She sighed and took it from him, catching the crumbs from where he’d apparently been gripping it too tightly, and started to nibble on the edge.

“Well, Alya knows that the ones I gave Adrien, the cat faces, weren’t for him. I might have freaked out to her about it at lunch time. And she wants me to bring these ones in to give to him tomorrow, but she doesn’t get it, Chat. Not only would I be giving Adrien a box of heart shaped, heart decorated cookies, but I’d be giving them without also giving more to the rest of the class to hide behind. So it’ll be really obvious I’m singling him out. And with my luck, something will go wrong. I’ll trip over myself and send them flying and get icing all over him and ruin his clothes and then he’d hate me and his father would hate me and get me blacklisted from ever working in fashion and I’ll never get to date him or get married and have three kids and a hamster named-”

He couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of him and cut her off. He really couldn't. Because wow. That was, that was something else. She pouted at him, and it was adorable, and he couldn’t help but pull her in closer and nuzzle his nose against the side of her head either. He was sure he was just as red as her, if not more so. Because wow. Marinette _liked_ him.

She pulled back to look up at him and he felt his heart jump at her wide blue eyes. Blue eyes that suddenly reminded him of Ladybug. Ladybug who he had been declaring his love for for quite a while now.

Ladybug who he was in love with. Ladybug who he had been in love with for a very long time at this point. Ladybug, who had repeatedly shot him down, and told him she loved someone in her civilian life. Ladybug who had told him that they had to stay professional, so even if she did like him, even if she could see him as anything else, couldn’t do anything about it because of Hawkmoth and the danger. Ladybug who was the most important person in the world to him. Who loved him fiercely, but platonically.

But the girl he currently had his arm around, she loved him in a very _not_ platonic way. Part of him at least. And Marinette was apparently a lot more complex than he’d thought, if he’d somehow missed seeing this in all his interactions with her. But then, he’d never really looked at her in that way before.

Maybe it was time to start?

“Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll help you get rid of these ones, on one condition.”

“I’ll eat them myself after all thanks,” she muttered.

“I’ll help you get rid of these if I also get to help you make more for him. More of these chocolate orange ones, but no hearts this time, and no pink icing. I’m free tomorrow afternoon, after five maybe, for a couple of hours. And then you can give them to him Wednesday. Deal?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, wary.

“Why are you helping me, Chat? If you’re just doing this so you can make fun of me…”

“No, no Marinette, nothing like that, never. I just think you deserve a chance at happiness, and you really seem to like this guy. And maybe, maybe he’ll like you too. If he has any sense. But you’ve got to let him know you’re interested first, right? And you’ve got to give him a chance to get to know you.”

“I…. fine. Tomorrow, after five thirty. Now shut up and eat already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~
> 
> Thanks for reading! It means a lot to me that you've given this a chance ^_^  
> So I was thinking about how unfair it is that Chat spelled out how much he loves Ladybug during Glaciator, but Marinette never did the same for Adrien. Soooooooo, I though that needed to change.
> 
> This will be silly, and fluff, and just Chat/Adrien slowly finding out more and more about Marinette and working out his feelings. Hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to tbehartoo! You rock <3

Adrien sat at his desk, chatting with Nino and helping him plan his next date with Alya when he heard Marinette’s distinct laugh getting closer. His eyes flickered to the doorway just as the girls walked in, and he stopped.

Marinette and Alya were arm in arm, giggling with their heads close together. Her eyes were sparkling, and she had little wrinkles next to them from where her smile was so wide. Her nose was scrunched up too, changing the way her freckles looked. She went to say something else to Alya when she spotted him, and he was amused for a moment as she seemed to do a double take. Then her smile shifted ever so slightly, suddenly looking forced, painful, and he recognised it as the smile she always gave him and he nodded his head to her in greeting before turning back to Nino because wow. Ok.

He’d noticed before just how different her smiles were, between what she gave Adrien and Chat of course. But he’d never seen it change like that. The second she’d noticed him looking, it had morphed completely into something less… real.

It was still real, of course. He knew that. Marinette liked him.  _ More  _ than liked him in fact. But that smile? It wasn’t her full smile. The smile she wore around Alya, or the girl squad, or any of their classmates. It wasn’t the smile she gave Chat.

He was still trying to work out just how he had never noticed before when the bell rang and the teacher walked in, and he twirled his pen around his fingers and frowned at the board.

What else hadn’t he noticed?

~

He tried not to change how he acted, because he didn’t know. Not as Adrien anyway. But he found himself watching her more throughout the day.

At break, she sat on a bench and sewed a button back on someone’s cardigan, quick hands working their magic as she laughed softly and smiled gently, only for that smile to falter again when she caught him watching from the corner of her eye. So he sighed, and walked away.

She sat next to Chloe at lunch, leaning over a shared magazine and listening to his oldest friend’s comments with an ease he’d never expected them to develop. She held the magazine up to Chloe’s face, chattering away and pointing to something on the page as Chloe nodded along, before they kissed each other on the cheek and Chloe left. But again, her smile twitched into something more forced when she met his gaze from across the room. So he turned back to Nino and Ivan and talked about the film they’d seen over the weekend.

And then after school, as he stood on the street and waited for his ride. She was talking to Rose and Juleka, and writing something in her drawing pad, when a group of boys walking past them must have said something, and her face immediately went blank. She turned to face them as they walked away, and while he was too far to hear exactly what she said, he could see the way they stiffened and spun and gaped at her, then hung their heads and looked sheepish. And she was standing tall, and confident, head high and shoulders back and in her element and it was amazing to watch. And when they walked away and she turned back to Rose and Juleka with a soft smile, he couldn’t look away at the warmth in her expression. Until she saw him yet again, and her eyes widened, and he sighed and turned before he had to watch it drop yet again.

-~-

Chat landed on her balcony right on time, whistling happily. Running across rooftops was the best, except for the pigeons. He bounced over to the open skylight and crouched down to knock, but paused. He was Chat right now. He had no reason to act any different around her, beyond some teasing possibly. They were friends. He had to remember that. He could do this. He knocked on his forehead twice then the window frame, and waited for the muffled yell to come in from further inside the house.

He swung down, being careful of his feet over her bed, and made his way over to the door when he didn’t find Marinette in her room. Marinette was at the kitchen counter with Sabine, and both smiled up at him as he started down the stairs.

“Well hello there Chat, it’s been a while since you were round. How are you?”

“I’m better now I’ve seen your smile again Sabine,” he purred, stopping next to her and lifting her hand to kiss her fingers with a wink.

She laughed at him and he smirked at the eye roll Marinette sent him behind her mother’s back as she pulled her hand free to pat his cheek.

“Charmer. Are you staying for dinner today?”

“Not today ma’am, sorry.”

“That’s too bad. Let Marinette know when you’ll be free next, Tom’s trying a new quiche recipe he wants your opinion on.”

He perked up at that and ginned, nodding happily as she left to go back to the bakery, but she paused in the doorway.

“Try not to destroy my kitchen this time.”

Chat felt the blush spread on his cheeks, and then felt it burn hotter as Marinette failed to hold in her snickers.

“Yes ma’am. I and my tail are staying as far from the mixer as we can, promise.”

“That’s all I can ask dear. Have fun.”

He walked over to join Marinette at the counter, but she tutted at him and pointed to the sink. He rolled his eyes and went to wash his hands. Well, gloves? He really needed to ask Plagg about taking the gloves off for things like this, as often as it happened.

But then she was telling him to get the bowls out, and to do this, and do that, and he fell in to the routine they had when they cooked together. Laughs and jokes and smiles. Playful quips and jabs at each other (“You keep your tail away from my mixer Chat Noir!” “Are you ever going to let that go!?”). Sparkling eyes that danced as she teased him, and the faintest blush and eye rolls as he teased her back. Scrunching her nose at his puns, and threatening him with spoons.

As she told him about the latest project Jagged Stone had asked her for (a waist coat for Fang, because why not apparently) with wild hand gestures that splashed water from the washing up onto the floor and exaggerated eye rolls, completely relaxed with him, he started to think again just how different she was around each of his sides. Not just her smiles, but her whole attitude. And he’d known that, he really had. But he hadn’t thought about it too hard since he’d first started to hang out with her as Chat, and then tried to get these reactions as Adrien only to have her dissolve in to a stuttering, rambling mess who ran away to cling to Alya. So he hadn’t tried again, confused but happy to take what he could get from her.

She wasn’t even this relaxed around Alya, he now realised. Which was a shock to be honest, because why would she be more relaxed around him, a practical stranger who could be anyone behind the mask, than her own best friend?

“Hello? Earth to Chat? You ok?”

He looked up from the bowl he was drying to meet her eyes, the slight furrow between them showing her concern.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m ok, just thinking.”

“Anything I can help with? A problem shared is a problem halved and all that. Unless it’s identity stuff of course.”

He snorted. She was almost as bad as his Lady about him keeping his identity a secret. It was no wonder they got on so well.

“Hmm. It’s more your civilian life to be honest.”

She flinched. Which was odd.

“I, what? I’m a civilian all the time, all of my life is civilian! What are you on about? Ahahah.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and watched as she grew more flustered and wouldn’t look at him.

“Marinette. You regularly talk to Ladybug, I’ve heard the way Rena and Carapace talk to you, I  _ know _ Chloe has visited you as Queen Bee, and I’m currently standing in your kitchen drying up after cooking with you. At least part of your life is most definitely  _ not _ civilian.”

“Oh, right, yes. You make excellent points,” she stammered, turning back to the washing up and practically diving back in, moving things around frantically and splashing even more water to the floor- and his boots. He flicked it off at her legs, causing her to squeak and pout at him. But at least she met his eyes.

“It’s not that I’m complaining,” he started slowly, “but I’m wondering what changed?”

“Huh?”

“Why am I now allowed to know who mystery boy is?”

She stared at him blankly, blinking and adorably confused.

“In the two years I’ve been hanging out with you, not once have you told me your mystery crush’s name. I always thought it was Luka to be honest.”

“I… what? I never told you? Really?”

“Nope. Not once. You didn’t mention it with Glaciator, when I poured my heart out about Ladybug, and I’m pretty sure I asked a few times after as well. And I saw you with Luka when Frozer happened, so I always just assumed.”

“But, but you’ve seen all the posters on my walls!”

“Yes, and you’re a fan of his father’s fashion lines.”

“Really? You bought that?”

Chats mouth worked for a few moments before he snapped it shut and pouted. Because yes. He had. And now he felt dumb.

“Don’t worry Chat. Adrien bought it too.”

Yeah, there’s a reason for that, he thought sulkily as she dried off her hands and reached over to scratch between his human and cat ear. He leant in to the touch as his eyes slid shut, slumping against the counter as he allowed her to comfort him.

“Well, at least you’re both pretty.”

His eyes snapped open again to find her standing in front of him, wide innocent eyes betrayed by the smirk twitching at the corner of her lips.

He pushed himself up again so he towered over her and opened his mouth to snark at her, but she’d pulled her hand free of his hair and taken a step back when he straightened and stood directly in the puddle of water she’d made earlier.

She yelped as her foot flew out from under her, and she started to tip backwards, hands starting to flail wildly. His own hands shot out before he could think and he grabbed her by the arms, tugging her forward against his chest and wrapping himself around her tight.

That could have been bad! No more messing around in the kitchen, he thought to himself as his heart pounded and he gasped in to her hair. She might have fallen sideways on to the edge of the oven and knocked herself out, or gone the other way on to a chair, or her arms could have caught the fridge door and pulled that down on top of her, or…

He felt her arms on his back start to stroke gently up and down, and finally registered her making soothing noises. When had she started hugging him? He pulled back slightly from where he’d pressed his face against her hair and met her eyes. Bright blue slightly panicked eyes that stood out against the slight red high in her cheeks. Which poked at something in his brain. Something important.

Kind of like how the feel of her in his arms like this felt really familiar somehow, but also not. It wasn’t the same as when they curled up on her balcony chair together, or her chaise in her room, or when he sat next to her on the sofa and they watched movies. It wasn’t like the friendly comfort of relaxing next to each other. It was more like…

She rolled her shoulders and wriggled a bit and he flinched, immediately loosening his grip on her and pulling back slightly.

“You ok? I didn’t hurt you did I?” he started, running his hands back down her arms to where he’d grabbed her and she sighed at him, and he glanced back up to catch her rolling her eyes.

“I’m fine. I’ve fallen over plenty of times before with no problems, stop fussing.”

And she was right. She had. He’d watched her fall over and get scrapes and hit on the head and bumped into. So why was it different now?

“And to answer your question, I’m sorry,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “I honestly thought you already knew. I don’t think I’ve been subtle about it over the years, with all the schemes to get him to notice me.”

“Schemes? Wait, is this related to your screw up comment last night?”

“Ah. Yeah.” She sighed and thumped her head against his shoulder, just for a moment because the timer went off for the next stage of the cookies and she was pushing herself away and smiling crookedly at him.

“C’mon Kitty. Next step is rolling the dough out and layering them together, and then they have to go back in the fridge.”

He looked after her, letting his hands fall to his sides as she moved away. “Seriously? You’re going to leave it at that? You’re not going to tell me all the ways you tried to get his attention?”

Because, as was becoming a regular thought now, what exactly had he missed?!

“You already have plenty of reasons to tease me right now, I don’t feel like giving you more.” She laughed at the face he pulled, stepping over the water this time to get to the fridge, grabbing the roll of kitchen towel from the side as she went and throwing it at him.

He bent down to mop up the spill as she got the dough out and set it on the counter, then he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his face against her stomach.

“Pleeeeeeeeeease,” he dragged out, looking up at her through his hair and making his eyes as big as possible as he fluttered his lashes at her. “Pretty please? With cherries and cream and however much of that brocade you were looking at last week on top?”

She groaned and looked up at the ceiling and he grinned smugly, knowing he’d won.

“Fine.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat helps Marinette bake, and uncovers a few secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you tbehartoo for making it better as always <3

Chat tried not to smile or laugh as he listened to Marinette grumble under her breath as he washed his hands again, then bit his lip and stood beside her as she cut off several pieces of baking paper, then drew a large rectangle on one of them. The scowl she wore when she looked up at him made him think he hadn’t succeeded in looking innocent.

“If you’re going to be insufferable then I want some of that purple satin I showed you last month too.”

He saluted her and let the smirk grow, since he sort of had permission now. She shook her head as she flicked her fingers at him then the other side of the counter, and he walked around to stand opposite her obediently.

“We have to roll each of the blocks of dough out to the size of this rectangle. I’ve drawn it on your paper to make it easier for you.” She unwrapped one of the blocks of chocolate dough and put it in the middle of the drawn on sheet, then put another sheet on top and slid it towards him.

He picked up one of the rolling pins she’d got out, one of the giant ones from the bakery downstairs as she couldn’t find the other normal one, and stared at her as he started to roll. She was setting up her own layers of paper and chocolate dough so didn’t notice immediately, but when she finally did glance up and meet his eyes, she scrunched up her nose. He swapped the smirk for kitten eyes again, fluttering his lashes until she looked away with a pout.

“Urgh. Ok fine. What did you want to know?”

“Well, you said last night about screw ups, and just now about schemes. I’m just wondering what you’ve tried so far?” She looked at him sceptically. “I mean, if he didn’t notice, then I need to know what level of oblivious we’re dealing with here to help you form a plan, right?”

The slight blush that he was quickly becoming fond of appeared on her cheeks again as she stared at the counter. She started to squash the dough, tapping her fingers against the roller to count off events.

“Well. There was the Valentine’s Card I sent him the first year I knew him, where I answered a poem he threw away and sent it to him, but forgot to sign my name. I left a really embarrassing voicemail calling him hot stuff and asking him out one time because Alya tricked me, and had to steal his phone to get rid of it,” she said, stopping for a moment and watching him with concern until he stopped coughing. “Well, I’ve had to steal his phone a couple of times now, but that’s not important. There was the time when I gave him a prescription for, erm, medicine for a friend, instead of the note I’d written for him explaining how I felt when he went off to London. I think the whole me helping him go on that ice skating date with Kagami counts as a screw up, especially since I hurt Luka that day too. Oh, that day that baby got akumatized the first time? Me and the girls from my class had made this giant, elaborate plan so I could get an entire two minutes to talk to him and ask him out after he’d finished his photoshoot that involved Alix with flowers and...”

She told more stories about the things she’d tried to do to get his attention. That he hadn’t noticed. That he’d taken as friendly affection or coincidence. That in hindsight were fairly obvious. He stared at her, until she giggled and reached over to close his jaw.

Huh.

“I, wow. That’s, that’s…” he trailed off, staring at the dough as it started to flatten out and he tried to think what to say. Some of the dough reached a line, so he twisted the paper round and kept going. He was trying to think how to tell her how much he admired her dedication in the face of his obliviousness without sounding patronising when she scoffed.

“Oh please. As if you haven’t done equally ridiculous and elaborate things trying to woo Ladybug.”

His head snapped up and he met her eyes, mouth dropping open. Ok, ouch.

“Excuse you! Nothing I do, did, to try and get Ladybug’s attention was ever ridiculous!”

“Oh yeah? What about when you set up all those candles and the picnic on the balcony?” she asked sweetly, seeming to miss his change of words as she pushed her perfectly flat rectangle of chocolate dough to the side and setting up the orange block between new paper. A quick glance showed he wasn’t even halfway done with his, so he started rolling it harder.

“That wasn’t ridiculous, it was romantic and heartfelt!”

“It was over the top. Don’t press so hard, you’ll make it too thin,” she added, tapping the back of his hand gently with her rolling pin and he let up a little with a huff, frowning. “Okay. What about when you gave her that giant bouquet of flowers last month that got in the way of you seeing that bridge? And your flirting with puns is _definitely_ ridiculous.”

“My puns are clawsome, thank you very much. But how do you know about the flowers? Even Alya doesn’t know about that.”

The look she gave him was so dry, he was tempted to ask for a drink. “Ladybug is here more often than you.”

“Right, right.” He sighed at the cookie dough, poking one of the corners down so it squidged back inside the lines. “I’m still not as bad as you are,” he muttered.

She glared at him and his ears went flat, the only reason he didn’t immediately run was the way her eyes still sparkled.

“Not _as_ bad, but you’re not completely clear either. Now, stop playing with the food, we need to layer these together. I’ll do this first one, then you can do the other, or do you want to just stand there and sulk?”

“Sulking sounds surprisingly good actually,” he said as he walked round the counter to wrap his arms around her shoulders, earning a poke in the ribs. “Ok ok, whatever. My attempts have been awful, I get it. Let’s go back to talking about you. How’re you going to give these to him tomorrow?”

She bit her lip as she quickly lined up the layers of dough and peeled off the paper, his slightly lumpy one between her two that were perfectly flat, straightening them up then rolling them up into a long cylinder.

“Grab the wrap for me? This needs to go back in the fridge for an hour before we can cook it. And I, I don’t know. I was trying not to think about it.”

He let go of her and pulled the plastic wrap from the cupboard, already trying to think of how best to set things up for tomorrow.

“Ok. Let’s work that bit out then. Want to go upstairs and brainstorm, or stay down here?”

“Upstairs I think. Less chance of Maman or Papa being able to eavesdrop or interfere.”

He nodded as he chuckled, familiar with their overly involved parenting style, and went to grab the rolling pins when she stopped him.

“We’ll be making more mess later when we do the icing, might as well leave them on the side and clean everything up at once. Go on up and get comfy, I’ll just be a second.”

He nodded and bounced up the stairs to her room, grabbing the fold up chair that lived behind her tall mirror and his paw print cushion for it and settling down, clearing a space on her desk by pushing a few things back. He smiled as he looked at the photos on the wall behind her computer. Yeah. He really was dumb to have believed her.

He was looking at the newest photo, taken last week when the four of them had gone for ice cream, when Marinette came upstairs and sat next to him, sliding a plate in his direction. He bit down on the happy squeal he wanted to make, instead stuffing one of the mini cream puffs in his mouth whole.

Marinette shook her head fondly as she reached past him and grabbed a piece of paper from her scrap pile, smoothing it out in front of her before grabbing a pen.

“Maybe I should call Alya,” she started, looking worried. “She’s helped me plan every other time I’ve tried to do something like this.”

Ah. Alya being involved would certainly explain some of the more over the top things she had mentioned earlier.

Chat pulled the paper over to him and plucked the pen from her fingers, writing K.I.S.S. across the top of the page as he chewed and swallowed, ignoring the cream stuck to the edge of  his lips.

“Let’s not. We’re going to use an English strategy I read about once. It supposedly works pretty well and-”

“I’m not kissing him Chat!” She screeched, hands flailing as she pushed herself backwards and fell off her chair.

“What?! No! No, it’s an acronym! Keep It Simple Stupid. I wasn’t saying- no!”

Marinette pushed herself up and wouldn’t meet his eyes, panicky gaze flickering around the room avoiding him. He helped her right the chair then climb back into it, fighting his own blush that he was sure was rivalling hers right now.

“Right, I knew that, haha. Of course it is. But, wait,” she paused, gaze locking with his finally. “Who are you calling stupid? Because you-”

“Do you really want to start name calling with all the dirt I have on you now?” he interrupted, leaning forward and quirking a brow at her. The blush high on her cheeks stood out more as the rest of her face paled, and she grabbed hold of his arm desperately.

“Promise me you won’t tell him any of this. **_Promise me!_** ”

He flinched. He immediately tried to play it off as him rolling his shoulders, casually shaking her hands off him at the same time as he smiled at her, but she’d been watching too closely. Her face cycled from panic, to confusion, through calculating, and settled on anger.

He was confused, and a bit scared. Why would she look like that? What had her mind just jumped to? And then he realised what he’d implied with the dirt comment. Ah shit.

“What did you do?”

“What?” he asked, thrown slightly because that wasn’t what he’d expected her to say.

“What. Did. You. **Do**?” she ground out.

“I don’t know what you-” he started, looking wildly round the room to avoid her eyes until fingers gripped his cheeks and pulled his face down so there were mere inches between their noses, and he gulped at the look on her face.

“I can explain!” he yelped, jerking his head backwards and out of her grasp.

“Oh I just bet you can. Go ahead, I’m listening.” She crossed her arms, glaring hard.

“Well, you see, erm, the photos he put up, they all looked so amazing! The detail in the iced whiskers and eyes, and the little button noses, they were really incredible, excellent examples of your skills-”

“Sucking up won’t save you right now.”

“Right! Well his place is sort of on the way to mine, and his bedroom light was on when I got close, so I, erm,” he trailed off, shrinking in his seat and trying to think how to word it without actually lying to her.

“So you stopped by his window and begged to see his cookies because you really are a greedy stray?”

“Well when you put it like that-”

“You told him didn’t you! That’s why Adrien was being so strange today! He was paying attention to me. Not that he doesn’t normally because he’s my friend and he always listens to me babble, but he seemed to be watching me all day and wouldn’t meet my eyes when I caught him staring and it makes no sense unless _someone_ had told him the cat faces weren’t for him and he was waiting for me to tell him myself and ruin yet another good thing he had in his life…” She’d stopped looking at him as she ranted, eyes focusing on something past his ear as she worked things through, but they snapped back to meet his own when he tried to subtly climb out the chair away from her.

“ ** _You_** ,” she hissed.

He yelped loudly as he jumped away from her sudden swipe at him, landing with a thump on the other side of the room. She snarled as she pushed herself up from her seat, hand falling on the desk and knocking a game controller that had been left out. He watched as her gaze darted to it, then she grabbed it with a smirk, holding it by one handle like a weapon.

“Marinette, please,” he whimpered, backing away from her with his hands up in front of him.

“Don’t you Marinette me,” she snarled at him, mocking his voice and advancing slowly. “I am going to _skin_ you you mangy, good for nothing, **flea-bag**!”

He yelped again as she lunged at him across the room, and he danced out of the way around the back of her chaise. She crashed in to the wall, then spun and went for him again. He looked around, desperately trying to think of how he could get out of this in one piece, when the trapdoor burst open and Sabine appeared in the opening holding the large rolling pin he’d used before, but covered in soap suds. She looked between the two of them, who were frozen in place with Marinette holding the controller up while he held his hands defensively , and frowned.

“Marinette! You stop that this instant young lady!”

Marinette growled as she stepped back and Adrien started to relax as Sabine climbed through the trapdoor and moved to stand between them, propping her fists on her hips.

“What is going on between you two? I thought something bad had happened, like an akuma.”

“He told Adrien I like him!” Marinette blurted as he spluttered, waving her improvised weapon around.

Sabine stopped, and he wasn’t sure he liked the faint look of gratitude she gave him, before her face smoothed to parental disappointment.

“Well in that case…”

She turned to Marinette and swapped the giant rolling pin for the controller in Marinette’s hand, nodding sharply.

“Use that instead, much more effective.”

Chat choked.

“Sabine?!”

“While I’m not sure of all the circumstances, I’m fairly certain you deserve whatever Marinette has planned for you,” she announced, then added almost too quiet to hear, “and I’m sure your suit can take it.” He stared at her as she continued at a normal volume. “But please don’t murder him darling, the customers might hear and just think how upset Ladybug will be.” Her eyes twinkled as she winked at him where Marinette couldn’t see, subtly moving them round so he was closer to the stairs leading to Marinette’s bed, and his escape route.

“I don’t think she’d mind somehow,” Marinette gritted out, her lip twitching as she took a step towards him again.

“I, er, haha, oh look at the time I gotta go now bye!”

And he turned and dashed up the stairs, scrambling out the window as he heard Marinette yell and start thumping after him.

“Chat Kitty-litter Destruction Noir! You get your skinny butt back here this instant!”

Chat gulped and kept running, jumping over to the next building and scrambling over rooftops, not caring which way he was going so long as it was far far away from his angry classmate. He would go back and apologise and explain properly when she wasn’t quite so likely to strangle him. And when he had gifts to offer maybe. He just had to hope she wouldn’t call his Lady to track him down for her.

A string tightening around his foot mid leap, halting his momentum and introducing his face to the top of a roof, killed that hope.

Crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Sorry, this is a little later than I'd planned. But my computer broke the day after I posted last chapter and it took me a week to get it fixed (cleaning liquid cooling gunk off the motherboard and buying a new graphics card is complicated stuff for noobs like me), and then I don't know if it was fibrofog, or if I got glutened, but my concentration was non-existent and yeeeeeeah.
> 
> (This is why I warn about health things getting in the way of posting sometimes >__<;;;)
> 
> Anyway. Hope you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! 
> 
> I vaguely know where this is going, and what I want to include, so in theory I should get a lot of it written relatively quickly.  
> BUT! I want to warn you now that I have health problems that can get in the way of writing, so my update schedule will probably be all over the place. So please don't expect anything regular or predictable.... >__<;;;
> 
> Kudos are great, comments make my day, concrit is welcome, and I'm on tumblr as alienducky if you want to say hi
> 
> (Oh, and I'm British. So I like my u's and to me "cookie" and "biscuit" are kind of interchangeable)


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